- Source
- Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.4.1-10.4.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-23
Strabo begins his geographical description of Crete, detailing its physical position, surrounding waters, extremities, and comparing estimates of its dimensions and circumference from various authors.
ἐπεὶ δὲ πρῶτον περὶ τῶν τῆς Πελοποννήσου νήσων τῶν τε ἄλλων διῆλθον καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ Κορινθιακῷ κόλπῳ καὶ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ, περὶ τῆς Κρήτης ἐφεξῆς ῥητέον (καὶ γὰρ αὕτη τῆς Πελοποννήσου ἐστί)1 καὶ εἴ τις περὶ τὴν Κρήτην· ἐν δὲ ταύταις αἵ τε Κυκλάδες εἰσὶ καὶ αἱ Σποράδες, αἱ μὲν ἄξιαι μνήμης αἱ δʼ ἀσημότεραι.
Since I have first gone through the islands of the Peloponnesus, both the others and those in the Corinthian Gulf and those in front of it, I must next speak about Crete (for this too belongs to the Peloponnesus) and if there are any islands around Crete; and among these are the Cyclades and the Sporades, some worthy of mention and others less famous.
νυνὶ δὲ περὶ τῆς Κρήτης πρῶτον λέγωμεν. Εὔδοξος μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ Αἰγαίῳ φησὶν αὐτὴν ἱδρῦσθαι· δεῖ δὲ μὴ οὕτως,2 ἀλλὰ κεῖσθαι μὲν μεταξὺ τῆς Κυρηναίας καὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος τῆς ἀπὸ Σουνίου μέχρι τῆς Λακωνικῆς, ἐπὶ μῆκος ταύταις ταῖς χώραις παράλληλον ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω· κλύζεσθαι δὲ ἀπὸ μὲν τῶν ἄρκτων τῷ Αἰγαίῳ πελάγει καὶ τῷ Κρητικῷ, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ νότου τῷ Λιβυκῷ τῷ συνάπτοντι πρὸς τὸ Αἰγύπτιον πέλαγος. τῶν δὲ ἄκρων τὸ μὲν ἑσπέριόν ἐστι τὸ περὶ Φαλάσαρνα, πλάτος ἔχον διακοσίων που σταδίων καὶ εἰς δύο ἀκρωτήρια μεριζόμενον (ὧν τὸ μὲν νότιον καλεῖται Κριοῦ μέτωπον τὸ δʼ ἀρκτικὸν Κίμαρος), τὸ δʼ ἑῷον τὸ Σαμώνιόν ἐστιν ὑπερπῖπτον τοῦ Σουνίου οὐ πολὺ πρὸς ἕω.
But now let us speak about Crete first. Eudoxus indeed says that it is situated in the Aegean; but one should not say so, but rather that it lies between Cyrenaica and that part of Greece which extends from Sunium to Laconica, parallel in length to these countries from west to east; and that it is washed on the north by the Aegean and the Cretan Sea, and on the south by the Libyan Sea which joins the Egyptian Sea. Of its extremities, the western is that about Phalasarna, having a width of about two hundred stadia and being divided into two capes (of which the southern is called Criumetopon and the northern Cimaros), while the eastern is Samonium, which projects not far to the east of Sunium.
μέγεθος δὲ Σωσικράτης μέν, ὅν φησιν ἀκριβοῦν Ἀπολλόδωρος τὰ περὶ τὴν νῆσον, ἀφορίζεται μήκει μὲν πλειόνων ἢ δισχιλίων σταδίων καὶ τριακοσίων, πλάτει δὲ ὑπὸ τὸ μέγεθος, ὥσθʼ ὁ κύκλος κατὰ τοῦτον γίνοιτʼ ἂν πλέον ἢ πεντακισχίλιοι στάδιοι· Ἀρτεμίδωρος δὲ τετρακισχιλίους καὶ ἑκατόν φησιν. Ἱερώνυμος δὲ μῆκος δισχιλίων φήσας τὸ δὲ πλάτος ἀνώμαλον, πλειόνων ἂν εἴη λέγων τὸν κύκλον ἢ ὅσων Ἀρτεμίδωρος. κατὰ δὲ τὸ τρίτον μέρος τοῦ μήκους.. … τὸ δὲ ἔνθεν3 ἰσθμός ἐστιν ὡς ἑκατὸν σταδίων ἔχων κατοικίαν πρὸς μὲν τῇ βορείῳ θαλάττῃ Ἀμφίμαλλαν, πρὸς δὲ τῇ νοτίῳ Φοίνικα τὸν Λαμπέων· πλατυτάτη δὲ κατὰ τὸ μέσον ἐστί, πάλιν δʼ ἐντεῦθεν εἰς στενώτερον τοῦ προτέρου συμπίπτουσιν ἰσθμὸν αἱ ᾐόνες περὶ ἑξήκοντα σταδίων, τὸν ἀπὸ Μινῴας τῆς Λυττίων εἰς Ἱεράπυτναν καὶ τὸ Λιβυκὸν πέλαγος· ἐν κόλπῳ δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ πόλις. εἶτα πρόεισιν εἰς ὀξὺ ἀκρωτήριον τὸ Σαμώνιον ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον νεῦον καὶ τὰς Ῥοδίων νήσους.
And as for its size, Sosicrates, whom Apollodorus says is accurate in matters concerning the island, defines its length as more than two thousand three hundred stadia, and its width as narrow in proportion to its size, so that its circumference according to him would be more than five thousand stadia; but Artemidorus says it is four thousand one hundred. And Hieronymus, having said that its length is two thousand and its width irregular, would be saying that its circumference is more than the number Artemidorus states. At the third part of its length... and thence is an isthmus of about one hundred stadia, having Amphimalla as a settlement on the northern sea, and on the southern, Phoenix of the Lampaens; and it is widest at the middle, and from there again the shores meet to form an isthmus narrower than the former, about sixty stadia, which runs from Minoa of the Lyttians to Hierapytna and the Libyan Sea; and the city is in the gulf. Then it goes forward into a sharp promontory, Samonium, which inclines towards Egypt and the islands of the Rhodians.
ἔστι δʼ ὀρεινὴ καὶ δασεῖα ἡ νῆσος, ἔχει δʼ αὐλῶνας εὐκάρπους. τῶν δʼ ὀρῶν τὰ μὲν πρὸς δύσιν καλεῖται Λευκά, οὐ λειπόμενα τοῦ Ταϋγέτου κατὰ τὸ ὕψος, ἐπὶ τὸ μῆκος δʼ ἐκτεταμένα ὅσον τριακοσίων σταδίων καὶ ποιοῦντα ῥάχιν τελευτῶσάν πως ἐπὶ τὰ στενά. ἐν μέσῳ δʼ ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ εὐρυχωρότατον τῆς νήσου τὸ Ἰδαῖον ὄρος ὑψηλότατον τῶν ἐκεῖ, περιφερὲς δʼ ἐν κύκλῳ σταδίων ἑξακοσίων· περιοικεῖται δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρίστων πόλεων. ἄλλα δʼ ἐστὶ πάρισα τοῖς Λευκοῖς, τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ νότον τὰ δʼ ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω λήγοντα.
The island is mountainous and thickly wooded, and has fertile valleys. Of the mountains, those towards the west are called Leuca, not falling short of Taygetus in height, and extending in length about three hundred stadia, making a ridge which ends somehow at the narrows. And in the middle, at the widest part of the island, is Mount Ida, the highest of the mountains there, with a circumference of six hundred stadia; and it is surrounded by the best cities. And there are other mountains almost equal to the Leuca, some ending towards the south and others towards the east.
ἔστι δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Κυρηναίας ἐπὶ τὸ Κριοῦ μέτωπον δυεῖν ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν πλοῦς, ἀπὸ δὲ Κιμάρου [ἐπὶ Ταίναρον] εἰσὶ στάδιοι ἑπτακόσιοι (μεταξὺ δὲ Κύθηρα), ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Σαμωνίου πρὸς Αἴγυπτον τεττάρων ἡμερῶν καὶ νυκτῶν πλοῦς, οἱ δὲ τριῶν φασι· σταδίων δʼ εἶναι τοῦτόν τινες πεντακισχιλίων εἰρήκασιν, οἱ δὲ ἔτι ἐλαττόνων. Ἐρατοσθένης δʼ ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Κυρηναίας μέχρι Κριοῦ μετώπου δισχιλίους φησίν, ἔνθεν δʼ εἰς Πελοπόννησον ἐλάττους …
And from Cyrenaica to Criumetopon is a voyage of two days and nights, and from Cimaros it is seven hundred stadia (and Cythera lies between); and from Samonium to Egypt is a voyage of four days and nights, though some say three; and some have said that this distance is five thousand stadia, and others even less. And Eratosthenes says that from Cyrenaica to Criumetopon is two thousand stadia, and thence to Peloponnesus is less.
- 10.4.1καὶ γὰρ αὕτη τῆς Πελοποννήσου ἐστί
The conjunction καὶ γάρ means "for indeed" or "for in fact." The genitive τῆς Πελοποννήσου is a genitive of belonging, indicating that Crete, in Strabo's spatial and thematic division, is classified under the geographical sphere or region of the Peloponnesus.
- 10.4.2δεῖ δὲ μὴ οὕτως
In this construction governed by the impersonal verb δεῖ ("it is necessary"), an infinitive of saying or thinking (such as λέγειν or ὑπολαμβάνειν) is understood after μὴ οὕτως ("not so"), contrasting with the subsequent infinitive κεῖσθαι ("to lie / be situated") introduced by ἀλλά ("but").
- 10.4.3κατὰ δὲ τὸ τρίτον μέρος τοῦ μήκους. . τὸ δὲ ἔνθεν
This passage contains a lacuna (loss of text in the manuscripts). The neuter article used demonstratively in τὸ δὲ ἔνθεν ("and on the other side" or "and thence") suggests a balanced correlation (on the one hand / on the other hand) with a geographical feature described in the lost preceding clause.